The invention relates to a charging apparatus for a vehicle having an energy accumulator (energy store), the charging apparatus comprising a charging source, a charging plug, a charging socket, a charging control device, an alternating-current (AC) charging device and a power switching device, and the charging socket has seven electrically assignable contacts, the first contact being connected as a pilot contact by way of a pilot line with the charging control device, the second contact being connected as a proxy contact by way of a proximity line with the charging control device, the third contact being connected as a protective ground conductor by way of a grounding line with the vehicle ground, the fourth contact being connected as a neutral conductor contact by way of a neutral line with the alternating-current charging device, and the fifth contact being connected as a phase 1 contact by way of a phase 1 line with the alternating-current charging device.
World-wide, vehicles with an electrified drive train are considered the key for the individual mobility of the future. Modern vehicle development is working on solutions for charging a vehicle-internal accumulator for the electric traction energy. Wired decentralized charging methods are currently being favored. This means that a surface-related density of external charging sources for the vehicle is available to the driver, where the average range of the vehicle corresponds at least to the average distance between two charging sources. A high charging comfort is distinguished by a high charging rate, i.e. brief charging periods, and by a high availability of charging sources for the vehicle; i.e. by high compatibility of the external charging sources with the vehicle.
According to the state of the art, a vehicle-side charging socket for a wired charging plug is being established; see, for example, the International Draft Standard IEC 62196. The 5-pole plug called Type 1 in this Draft Standard 62196 offers the user the possibility of charging the battery of the vehicle with alternating current (AC) by way of the 1-phase alternating-current network and/or with direct current (DC) if the charging source makes these two charging types available. In this case, for charging with direct current, the power is limited to a current intensity of maximally approximately 80 A with a voltage of maximally 300 V-480 V. If a charging source provides the charging with direct current up to a current density of maximally 200 A and of a voltage of maximally 600 V-850 V and thereby permits a faster charging, according to Draft Standard IEC 62196, a plug-socket system called Combo 1 is used which has special direct-current contacts.
If a vehicle is equipped with a charging socket for the type 1 plug, the user cannot charge the accumulator with a charging direct current of more than 80 A at a charging source having a Combo 1 plug.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved charging apparatus for the electric charging of an energy accumulator of a vehicle.
This and other objects are achieved by a charging apparatus for a vehicle having an energy accumulator, the charging apparatus comprising a charging source, a charging plug, a charging socket, a charging control device, an alternating-current charging device and a power switching device. The charging socket has seven electrically assignable contacts. The first contact is connected as a pilot contact by way of a pilot line with the charging control device. The second contact is connected as proximity contact by way of a proxy line with the charging control device. The third contact is connected as a protective grounding conductor contact by way of a ground line with the vehicle ground. The fourth contact is connected as a neutral conductor contact by way of a neutral line with the alternating-current charging device. The fifth contact is connected as a phase 1 contact by way of a phase 1 line with the alternating-current charging device. The sixth contact is connectable as a positive direct-current contact by way of a DC plus line and by way of the power separating device with the energy accumulator. The seventh contact is connectable as a negative direct-current contact by way of a DC minus line and by way of the power separating device with the energy accumulator. The DC plus line is connected by way of a first electric branch line with the neutral line or the phase 1 line, and the DC minus line is connected by way of a second electric branch line with the neutral line or the phase 1 line.
According to the invention, the sixth contact is connected as a positive direct-current contact by way of a DC plus line and by way of the power separating device with the energy accumulator; the seventh contact is connected as a negative direct-current contact by way of a DC minus line and by way of the power separating device with the energy accumulator; the DC plus line is connected by way of a first electric branch line with the neutral line or the phase 1 line; and the DC minus line is connected by way of a second electric branch line with the neutral line or the phase 1 line.
This has the advantage that an external direct voltage situated between the fourth contact and the fifth contact is also applied between the DC plus line and the DC minus line 1. If, in this case, the higher electric potential of the potential difference between the fourth contact and the fifth contact is at the fifth contact, the DC plus line is connected by way of the first electric branch line with the fifth contact, and the DC minus line is connected by way of the second electric branch line with the fourth contact. If the higher electric potential between the fourth contact and the fifth contact is at the fourth contact, the DC plus line is connected by way of the first electric branch line with the fourth contact, and the DC minus line is connected by way of the second electric branch line with the fifth contact.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the charging socket has a protective cap operable by the charging control device or by the operator, by which protective cap, an opened position can be taken up, and by which a closed position can be taken up. In the closed position, the DC plus contact and the DC minus contact are covered.
The protective cap results in the special advantage that the DC plus contact and the DC minus contact can be covered, so that, within the scope of the intended usage of the charging apparatus for the operator, these two contacts will not be freely accessible when the protective cap is closed.
According to a further variant of the present invention, the charging socket has a cap sensor by which the position of the protective cap can be detected. Furthermore, according to this variant, the invention comprises a data connection between the cap sensor and the charging control device, by way of which data connection, the detected position of the protective cap can be transmitted to the charging control device by the cap sensor.
By use of the cap sensor, the protective cap can be recognized as being in a defined position. If required, the protective cap can be adjusted into the other position by the charging control device. As an alternative, a false position of the protective cap can be indicated to the operator.
Preferably, a first charging plug in the form of a plug-and-socket connection can be attached to the charging socket when the protective cap is open or when the protective cap is closed, which first charging plug is constructed with at least 3 poles and not more than 5 poles. At least three core poles of the first charging plug are electrically assigned, in the case of a plug-socket connection established by means of the first charging plug, the first three contacts being connected with the same assignments with the core poles of the first charging plug, and the not more than 5 poles being connected with the same assignments with the first five contacts of the socket. When the plug-socket connection is established with the first charging plug, the protective cap can be closed or is closed.
With respect to its basic geometrical shape, the first charging plug may, for example, be constructed as a plug of Type 1, according to the International Draft Standard IEC 62196, and the charging socket of the vehicle, with respect to its geometrical design, may be constructed as a charging socket of the Combo-1 type. The core poles of the charging plug are the poles of the plug which, when the plug-socket connection is established in accordance with the regulations, are electrically contacted with the pilot contact, the proxy contact and the grounding conductor contact.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, when the plug-socket connection is established with the first charging plug, while the power connection is separated by the power switching device and, in the case of an electric assignment of the fourth contact and of the fifth contact with alternating voltage by the charging source, the battery can be charged by way of the alternating-current charging device.
This means that the user of the charging apparatus can connect the vehicle with a charging source, which provides 1-phase alternating current, for charging the energy accumulator by way of the first charging plug.
As an alternative, when the plug-socket connection is established with the first charging plug and in the case of an electric assignment of the fourth contact and of the fifth contact with direct voltage by the charging source, the battery can be charged with direct voltage when the power connection is established by the power switching device and the protective cap is closed.
If, according to the Draft Standard IEC 62196, the first charging plug is constructed as a Type 1 plug and the charging socket is constructed as Combo-1, the charging source provides direct current, and the user connects the vehicle with the charging source by way of the first charging plug, the energy accumulator can be charged with direct current when the protective cap is closed. According to the Draft Standard IEC 62196, the direct current for the charging with direct current for the Type 1 plug is limited to maximally 80 A. The type of charging is called DC low charging. It is a prerequisite for DC low charging with the Type 1 plug that the charging control device can detect that the protective cap is in the closed position, so that the positive direct-current contact and the negative direct-current contact cannot be touched in a freely accessible manner from the outside.
If the charging source can provide 1-phase alternating current as well as direct current, the charging control device can select and implement one of the two types of charging based on various parameters of the energy accumulator and of the charging source. This particularly relates to the adjustment of the power switching device. A selected charging operation is controlled, or automatically controlled, according to the state of the art by the charging control device.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, a second charging plug in the form of a plug-socket connection can be attached to the charging socket when the protective cap is open. According to this embodiment, the second charging plug is constructed with at least three poles and not more than seven poles, in which case at least three core poles of the second charging plug are electrically assigned. When the plug-socket connection is established with the second charging plug, the first three contacts are connected with the same assignments with the core poles of the second charging plug, and the not more than seven poles are connected with the same assignments with the seven contacts of the socket.
With respect to their basic geometrical shape, the second charging plug and the charging socket can, for example, be constructed as a Combo-1 plug and a Combo-1 charging socket according to the International Draft Standard IEC 62196. The core poles of the charging plug are the poles of the plug which, if the plug-socket connection is established in accordance with the regulations, are electrically contacted with the pilot contact, the proxy contact and the grounding conductor contact. The further four contacts of the socket are contacted with the same assignments with maximally four further poles of the plug, i.e. predetermined poles of the plug may be present for certain further contacts of the socket.
Preferably, when the plug-socket connection is established with the second charging plug and with the electric assignment of the sixth contact and of the seventh contact with direct voltage by the charging source, the battery can be charged when the power connection is established by the power switching device.
If the charging source provides the direct voltage for the charging, when the plug-socket connection is established with the second charging plug, the energy accumulator can also be charged with direct current at a current intensity of more than 80 A. This type of charging is called DC high charging.
As an alternative, when the plug-socket connection is established with the second charging plug and in the case of an electric assignment of the fourth contact and of the fifth contact with alternating voltage by the charging source, the battery can be charged by way of the alternating-voltage charging device if the power connection is separated by the power switching device.
This means that, with the second charging plug, the energy accumulator can also be charged with alternating current if the charging source provides 1-phase alternating voltage. If the charging source, while the plug-socket connection is established with the second charging plug, 1-phase alternating current as well as direct current can be provided for DC high charging, one charging type can be selected and implemented based on various parameters of the energy accumulator and of the charging source. In particular, the corresponding adjustment of the power switching device takes place. A selected charging operation is controlled, or automatically controlled, according to the state of the art by the charging control device. The direct voltage, which is also present at the alternating-current charging device during direct-current charging, requires a voltage-enduring design of the alternating-current charging device.
The charging apparatus has the advantage that, by way of two different plugs, a plug-socket connection and thereby a charging connection can be established between the vehicle and the charging source. The user of the vehicle can establish a charging connection independently of the type of charging supported by the charging source (alternating current, DC low, DC high) and the used plug (Type 1 or Combo-1). As a function of the charging type supported by the charging source (alternating current, DC low, DC high) and the used plug (Type 1 or Combo-1), the charging control device can carry out that charging operation that appears suitable on the basis of different existing influencing variables.
The invention is based on the considerations described in the following. For electric and hybrid vehicles, different conductive, i.e. wired, charging technologies exist at an external charging source. One of these wired charging variants is AC charging, i.e. alternating-current charging, in which case the charging apparatus is situated in the vehicle. Another wired charging variant is DC charging, i.e. direct-current charging, in which case the charging apparatus is situated in the external charging station. DC charging is frequently also called rapid charging because the charging capacity is normally above that of the AC charging.
The international plug Draft Standard IEC 62196 describes a novel plug-socket system that is also called a Combo plug system. It thereby becomes possible to connect a plug, which permits an AC charging, to a single vehicle charging socket. A plug permitting DC charging can also be connected to this vehicle charging socket. A vehicle having such a charging topology on the basis of the Combo plug system can charge at an AC charging station as well as also at a DC charging station, the vehicle having only one installed charging connection.
The Combo plug system includes a charging socket and a charging plug. The charging socket is mounted at the vehicle. The charging plug, which is also called a coupler, is fixedly connected with the charging station by way of the charging cable during DC charging.
Draft Standard IEC 62196 describes different plug-socket variants. This relates, for example, to a plug that is called Type 1 and to a plug that is called Combo 1. As a function of the charging source, the vehicle with the Type 1 plug can be charged with direct current, the plug being designed for a charging current of up to 80 A. This charging variant is called DC low charging. By means of a plug of the Type 1 Combo plug, the vehicle can be charged with direct current, the plug being designed for a charging current of up to 200 A. This charging variant is called DC high charging. For this purpose, the Type 1 Combo plug has two poles designed for a high current load capacity, which are also called DC high poles. The further poles of the Type 1 Combo plug are called core poles. By means of both plugs, the vehicle can also be charged with alternating current depending on the charging station.
Independently of the plug to be attached to the vehicle (according to the IEC 62196, for example, a Type 1 plug, a Type 2 plug, a Type 1 Combo plug or a Type 2 Combo plug), the vehicle has a charging architecture which includes an AC charging device, a communication unit and a DC protective contactor system for the power switching. The AC charging device is required exclusively for AC charging. The DC protective contactor system ensures that no dangerous voltage is present at the charging socket. It needs to be ensured for reasons of safety that no high voltage is present on parts that may be touched, such as, for example, exposed contacts of the charging socket.
According to the state of the art, a spreading of different external charging possibilities for vehicles is becoming apparent, which permit charging according to different charging variants. This has the disadvantage that a complex charging architecture has to be present in the vehicle which permits the charging of as many charging variants as possible.
The charging architecture should particularly permit DC low charging and DC high charging and be compatible with the Type 1 plug and the Type 1 Combo plug.
An improved charging architecture is therefore provided which has a charging socket for a Type 1 Combo plug. DC high charging is thereby made possible. Since a charging socket for the Type 1 Combo plug is compatible with the Type 1 plug, DC low charging can also be made possible with the indicated charging socket. In the charging socket, the pins intended for DC low charging are electrically connected with the pins for the DC high charging pertaining to DC high poles. The charging socket therefore has a detectable protective cap by which the pins of the charging socket pertaining to the DC high poles can be covered. This ensures that, during DC low charging, the pins pertaining to the DC high poles will not be freely accessible so as to be touched from the outside. In this manner, no separate protections are required for the pins intended for the DC low charging. When using the Type 1 Combo plug, the cap will be open; when using the Type 1 plug, the cap will preferably be closed.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.